Long story short....

I was driving along in my fluck-us (2000 ford focus with only 41,2xx miles) on the BW parkway and out of nowhere, the check engine light lit and the car literally died. It was just myself and my son in the car. I tried to restart it and it did, but then the car refused to go over 35 mph. I got maybe 1 mile and then the car died again. I am ~3,000 miles overdue for an oil change, but I check the level at every fillup and all was well this morning. The oil was a little dark, but full. Everything else was fine and the car did not overheat. I managed to get home....luckily I was only 3 miles from home and made it by stopping, waiting 5 minutes, and restarting and getting as far as I could. What could be wrong? I am scared to drive it now

 

More background info, sorry

-The car fires right up every time and the battery is brand new
- I do not hear any knocking/clicking/anything. When it does run, it purrs like a kitten, but when it dies, ALL the lights illuminate (like they are supposed to)
- You can put the pedal to the floor, but it will not go over 35, like it's not getting any fuel
- It ran perfectly fine with no warning lights on and no stalling until now


If you need further info, just ask This isme and my son's only car and I need to get to work and he to school tomorrow.....please at least point me in the right direction

EDIT: also, it idles fine, when you give it gas at a standstill the engine revs fine, it just won't go above 35 when placed in drive.....and the transmission is fine as well....it was checked not 3 days ago....


Modified by blackgrrl23 at 9:55 PM 1/13/2005

 

anybody?

 

in all honesty, this is the wrong place to be posting about a ford focus. lol. but it's alright.

sounds to me like an ignition problem.. but since you said the check engine light came on, why don't you find out what code it is? if i were you, check with your local dealer. have them pull the code, and ask them if there are any common problems like this.

but to answer your question.. no. your engine did not seize. if it were seized, it would not start. it wouldn't even crank over.

oh, and change your oil dammit!

 

coming as a previous Escort owner ( ahem...Cough, 5 of them, ... cough, hack...lol) Being its a slush box the dealer or anyone with a OBD II scan tool should be able to pull a code for you but i would look at one of the shift solenoids in the trannie. usually they let you rev up without moving not dragging but without codes???? Its accessible from the trans pan which doesn't require pulling the unit. Not overly expensive fix but, still a hassle. you'll wanna change the filter while your in there cause you'll be needing to add new fluids, and may as well have them do that oil too while its in the Air...lol

 

Step one: STOP starting the bloody thing.
Something major went wrong and you shouldn't have driven it at all, but now you're home stop messing with it.

Step two: call a tow truck and get it towed to a garage.

 

I was dping some reading....could it be my fuel pump?

 

Update guys...I was right....it was the daggone fuel pump. CarMax is fixing it for $50 since I got teh warranty

I won't come back in here anymore unles I have a problem with my Civic hatchie I just got

 

Quit driving on 295, strange things happen to cars there..